ATLANTA (AP) — Former third-party and independent candidates from several
Southern states are hoping a case before a federal appeals
court could lead to a ruling that will bring easier access
to state general-election ballots.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday as
to whether an Alabama election law revised four years ago
unfairly restricts those candidates from that state's ballot.

A federal judge last year upheld the law, which still
requires general-election candidates to collect signatures
from 3 percent of the total number of voters in the previous
gubernatorial election, but moved up the deadline for
submitting those signatures to the day of the first primary election.

Opponents of the law say the new deadline makes it harder to
get enough legitimate signatures, since third-party
candidates often fan out to polling places on the day of the
primary to get the necessary signatures. Attorneys
representing Alabama maintain the changes were made for
several reasons, including to unclutter ballots and prevent
"sore loser" candidates who lost in the primary
from running as independents.

Among those sitting on the courtroom benches during the
45-minute hearing were several former third-party candidates
from North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.

"I'm telling you, it is impossible to get on the
ballot as a statewide candidate," John Dashler, who
tried to run as an independent candidate for Georgia
governor last year, said after the hearing.

Emily Lewy of Dahlonega, Ga., ran as an independent candidate
for the Georgia House of Representatives in 1998 and sued
the state over ballot access issues.

"I support changing the laws in all of our states to
make ballot access easy," Lewy said. "All
we're asking is to give the people a choice."

Attorney Arlene Richardson, who represented several
third-party candidates who brought the lawsuit four years
ago, said Alabama had no reason to impose the new rules.

"This is a matter ... that affects a right that's
very precious to a lot of people," Richardson told the
three-judge panel.

Kevin Newsom, Alabama's solicitor general, argued that
not many third-party candidates have even tried to run for
statewide office — and pointed out that as local candidates
run more often, they are becoming more familiar with the process.

"They seem to be getting used to this deadline and are
becoming more able to meet it," Newsom told the judges.

Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus asked both attorneys whether the
lower court judge had considered the 3 percent rule in
relation to the earlier deadline — what he understood to be
the crux of the case.

"I took your argument to be that the whole is greater
than the sum of its parts," Marcus told Richardson.

Rob Richie, executive director of the Maryland-based election
advocacy group FairVote, said political leaders take steps
that can often suppress choice at the polls — steps that he
says are typically indefensible and done for undemocratic reasons.

"It's not that they fear losing to these
candidates, but they fear them being disruptive,"
Richie said. "But democracy isn't just about who
wins and represents the people. It's about the process
of debate that happens before we make the choice."